Pool or no pool?

[Yinan Q.]

Agents and investors, is a in ground pool a plus or minus to potential buyers in the Seattle area in general? It's an entry level house (sub 500k) with moderate size lot (~6,000 sf). The pool literally takes more than half of the back yard for the particular house I am looking at.

Personally I think a pool in this area is more of a burden - it only gets used for 2 months each year. 

[Penny Clark]

@Yinan Q., Pools can be problematic as part of a rental property - they'll pose a liability risk and hike insurance rates, and then there is the upkeep. The only time I'd have a rental with a pool would be the following conditions:

- Property must be high end and attract high quality tenants who are more likely to care about maintaining it, will be observant enough to notify you of any issues with it, and will exercise some personal responsibility (keeping gates shut, dipping leaves out of skimmer and pool, filling it with water when it gets low and remembering to shut it off, etc)

- The pool itself should have a fence around it to keep out children and animals from accessing it. A lock on the gate is also a good idea.

- Require tenants to carry renter's insurance, particularly liability coverage

- Carry an increased amount of liability insurance on your HO landlord policy. It is also a good idea to have an umbrella.

- Some pools are high maintenance (debris from trees, plants, difficult to balance chemicals, etc). and require a pool service. If this is the case build this cost into the rent.

Our personal residence has a pool and we have thought about converting it into a rental someday. However, be cause of the pool, we'll more likely sell it.

Hope that helps!